Surge in Canadian patriotism ahead of National Flag Day

People in Waterloo Region are preparing to show off their pride on National Flag Day of Canada. CTV’s Heather Senoran has more on the celebration.

Tensions with the U.S. are fueling a new wave of Canadian patriotism, including in Waterloo Region.

Bill Austin from New Hamburg installed a flagpole on his property to make sure he’s prepared for National Flag Day of Canada on Saturday.

He said you can’t get more iconic than the red and white banner. His neighbour also has a Canadian flag plastered on his garage.

“When people see the maple leaf, they know it’s Canada so that’s a good thing,” Austin said.

Hometex Flags and Banners has been a family-owned business since the 1982. The general manager said they’ve been busier lately.

“They want to show their support. They’ve bought more than one flag, whether to put it in their garden, near their front door, in their backyard, put a fresh one up at their cottage,” said Nadine Kautsky.

She said there’s also a lot of questions about where the flags are from with the recent surge to buy Canadian.

“We make them between Ontario and Quebec,” she said.

Earlier this week all former living prime ministers put out a statement urging Canadians to show off their national pride.

“Let’s show the world that we are proud of our history and proud of our country,” the statement said.

Proud to be Canadian

Julie Simmons, a politcal science professor at the University of Guelph said, Canadian patriotism was touch and go for the last few decades.

“Since about 1985, we have seen lower numbers in terms of people feeling as though they are proud to be Canadian and they have been progressively lower and lower. But we did see an uptick with the Olympics in 2010, and I think we can attribute some of the most recent declines, even noticeable as of December, as related to people’s experience with inflation,” she said.

But since U.S President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, she’s seen a surge in Canadian pride like never before. Well timed with National Flag of Canada Day coming up. She predicts it will be celebrated more than it has before.

“I think that the fact that we have five former Canadian prime ministers encouraging us to fly flags suggests that it’s a bigger deal this year than it has been in years past,” Simmons said.

Simmons said people are proud to be Canadian for a number of reasons.

“We have public health care, we’re more egalitarian, we have quality public schools, and we have a long tradition of being deferential and kind and team players on the national and international stage,” she said.

The trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down and even though there’s external economic pressures, Simmons said Canada can still benefit.

“The immediate gain that we might see is movement with internal trade barriers,” Simmons said.